SJD Candidate
Thesis title:
Constituent Power in Theory and Practice of Islamic Republic of Iran: A Historical Analysis
Office in Falconer Hall
84 Queen's Park
Toronto, M5S 2C5
Email: majid.nikouei@mail.utoronto.ca

Majid Nikouei thinks about modern constitutionalism and its challenges in Muslim-majority countries. He is particularly interested in how the elements of modern constitutionalism, such as rule of law and human rights, can be implemented in the Iranian and Shi'ite contexts. Before joining the University of Toronto, Majid was an adjacent lecturer at Islamic Azad University (Iran) and has taught courses in constitutional law, Islam and human rights, and public law in Islam.

Education
PhD (Public Law), Shahid Beheshti university (formerly known as National University), Tehran, Iran (summa cum laude)
M.Soc.Sc.(International Human Rights Law), Åbo Akademi University (ÅAU), Turku, Finland (summa cum laude)
L.L.M. (International Law), Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran (highest honours)
L.L.B. Shahid Beheshti university (formerly known as National University), Tehran, Iran
Awards and Distinctions
University of Toronto, Faculty of Law Scholarship, 2019.
Visiting Scholar, Pretoria University, South Africa, 2016.
NOET (National Organization of Educational Testing) Scholarship, Iran, 2005.
Professional Affiliations
Lawyer, Iranian Central Bar Association, 2017-present.
Adjunct Professor, Islamic Azad University of Najaf Aabad, 2015-2018.
Head of International and Human Rights Committee in Isfahan Bar Association (Iran), 2018.
Member of LAWJIP (Law, Justice and International Peace) Foundation, Esfahan, Iran, 2017
Selected Publications

English

"Jurisprudence of Tolerance: Hate Speech, Article 17 and Theory of Democracy in the European Convention on Human Rights" (2019) 8:1 International Human Rights Law Review 67-88 (with M. Zamani).

"Intervention by Invitation, Collective Self-defence and the Enigma of Effective Control" (2017) 16:4 Chinese Journal of International Law 663-694 (with M. Zamani).

"The Secession of Crimea: Where Does International Law Stand?" (2016) 85:1 Nordic Journal of International Law 37-64 (with M. Zamani).

Persian (Farsi)

 Articles

"From Natural Law to Natural Rights: Conceptual Analysis and Historical Evolution" (2017) 47:3 Public Law Studies Quarterly 747-769 (with S. Seyed Fatemi).

"A Critical analysis of ‘Disclosive Quality of Certainty (Qat‘) in Revealing Reality’ in Shi‘i Osul al-fiqh‌ in Light of Modern Epistemology" (2019) 11:20 Journal of Studies in Islamic Law and Jurisprudence 373-402 (with H Saraf). 

"The Avicenna’s Contribution to the Natural Law Theory of Aquinas" (2016) 2:2 Journal of Comparative Studies on Islamic and Western Law 49-76 (with S. Seyed Fatemi).

 "Reexamining the independent rationality (al-mustaqillat al-‘aqliyya) in Shi‘i Osul al-fiqh in Light of Rawls’s Analytical Framework in ‘Theory of Justice’" Journal of Comparative Law (NAMEH-YE MOFID) Forthcoming.

"Examining the Legality of Intervention by Invitation: A Critical Approach to Interventions in Mali, Ukraine, Syria and Yemen" (2017) 18:54 The Quarterly Journal of Public Law Research 289-317 (with M. Zamani).

"Examining the Exercise of Self-determination in Crimea from the Perspective of International and Constitutional Law" (2016) 73:1 Revue de la Recherche Juridique 253-284 (with M. Zamani).

"Human Rights and Rawls’s the Law of People: A Critical Approach" (2012) 76:79 The Judiciary Law Journal 125-153.

 Books

Natural Law in Shi‘ite Teachings and Its Implications For Theory of State, Tehran: Nashre Ney (forthcoming).

 Translation From English to Farsi: Anderi Marmor, Philosophy of Law, Princeton University Press, 2011. The translation was published by Negahe Moaser Publication, 2012 (with S. Abedi).

Research Interests
International Law
Islamic Law
Law and Religion
Legal History
Legal Theory
Political Philosophy and Theory
Supervisor
Mohammad Fadel
Committee Members
David Dyzenhaus
Mohamad Tavakoli-Targhi, Professor of History and Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations at University of Toronto